Research Article Open Access Open Access Research Article Vinod Kumar, J Geogr Nat Disast 2014, 5:1 DOI: 10.4172/2167-0587.1000131 Volume 5 • Issue 1 • 1000131 J Geogr Nat Disast ISSN: 2167-0587 JGND, an open access journal *Corresponding author: Vinod Kumar, Department of Geography, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, Tel: 01262-274640; E-mail: vinugeo.mdu@gmail.com Received September 25, 2014; Accepted October 30, 2014; Published November 10, 2014 Citation: Vinod Kumar (2014) Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: A Study with Special Reference to North-Western India. J Geogr Nat Disast 5: 131. doi:10.4172/2167-0587.1000131 Copyright: © 2014 Vinod Kumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: A Study with Special Reference to North-Western India Vinod Kumar* Department of Geography, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana Abstract Climate change has become most critical issue at the global level, regional and local level to such an extent that climate change is considered as a gravest challenge for the mankind in the present century. No person, no country or no region of the world is immune to climatic changes. Past global efforts at dealing with the problem of global warming (which is most evident form of climate change) concentrated on mitigation, with the aim of reducing and possibly stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere. As stabilisation of GHG’s primarily depend upon changes in technology, discovery of new and less polluting fuels and with awareness in human behaviour towards mother earth. And all these changes are slow in nature, that’s why adaptation is seen as viable option in reducing the vulnerability to anticipated negative impacts of global warming. Now, at the global level it is increasingly realised that mitigation and adaptation should be perused complement to each other. However, increasing integrating mitigation and adaptation strategies in terms of climate changes are not completely new idea in India and especially in north-western India. This region is characterised by severe and frequent droughts from centuries. And given the rich cultural values of north-western region, local population through their indigenous knowledge systems, have developed a unique from of skills to reduce their vulnerability to variability in local climate. However, this knowledge is rarely taken into consideration in the design and adaptation of modern mitigation and adaptation strategies. This paper is an attempt to highlight some indigenous mitigation and adaptation skills that have been praticesed in North-western India. Paper also attempts to put forward arguments for integrating indigenous knowledge into formal climate change and mitigation strategies. Keywords: Aridity; Adaptation; Indigenous knowledge; Mitigation; Sustainable development; Climate change; River basin management; Coping strategies; Trial and error method Introduction It is now widely accepted that earth’s climate tends to change over time due to natural causes and also partly by human activities. As per the current usage, especially the expression ‘Climate change’ oſten refers only to changes in modern climate. It also includes the rise in the average surface air temperature which is also known as ‘Global Warming’ [1]. is very phenomenon of climate change is bound to have serious catastrophic consequences. ese consequences include melting of glaciers, rising sea level and rise in the amount and intensity of climatic extremes. ese consequences would be so severe that many studies believe that climate change is going to endanger the very existence of human being on the planet. Adaptation to global warming is a response to climate change that seeks to reduce the vulnerability of social and biological systems to climate change effects. Even if emissions are stabilized relatively soon, climate change and its effects will last many years, and adaptation will be necessary. Climate change adaptation is especially important in developing countries since those countries are predicted to bear the brunt of the effects of climate change. at is, the capacity and potential for humans to adapt (called adaptive capacity) is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations, and developing countries generally have less capacity to adapt. Adaptive capacity is closely linked to social and economic development. e economic costs of adaptation to climate change are likely to cost billions of dollars annually for the next several decades, though the amount of money needed is unknown. Donor countries promised an annual $100 billion by 2020 through the Green Climate Fund for developing countries to adapt to climate change. Increase in green house gases emissions through human activities has resulted in additional warming of the earth’s surface, with several anticipated negative impacts. So, far in the past global Initial efforts at dealing with the problems related to global warming seems to be concentrated on mitigations with the aim of reducing and possibly stabilising [1]. Keeping checks on emissions in the industrial world is hard nut to crack, that also in a time when global economy is on the path of robust growth. And it is expected that global energy consumption would go upwards. With slow progress and unfavourable conditions in achieving reduction of GHG’s from atmosphere it is now realised that adaptation is more viable option to reduce the vulnerability to anticipated negative impacts of global warming. Moreover, aſter the failure of Copenhagen climate negotiations it is realised that we can not entirely depend upon mitigation alone. But, to safeguard our common future we must integrate the process of mitigation and adaptation to fight climate change. However, integrating adaptation and mitigation is not a completely new idea in the world. ere are many regions of the world where people are still living in the lap of nature without causing any harm to nature. ey have developed special skills to cope with the occasional natural flurries. And these skills of creating harmony between power of nature and human greed are known as ‘Traditional Knowledge’ or ‘Ingenious knowledge’. Journal of Geography & Natural Disasters J o u r n a l o f G e o g r a p h y & N a t u r a l D i s a s t e r s ISSN: 2167-0587